Get to Know Zack Villere

By: Amelia Zollner

Zack Villere, a 22-year old musician from Louisiana, isn’t exactly normal. Unlike the vast majority of new musicians who often dedicate their social media presence solely to promoting their music, Zack’s Twitter page is filled with his unbounded support for other musicians, a variety of strange jokes that can best be described as intrusive thoughts, and, best of all, his own honest opinions on nearly everything from the music industry to his goals in life.

Although his eccentric personality is probably most noticeable when scrolling through his Twitter account, Zack lets it overflow into his music, which has led him to create a very distinguishable sound for himself. And at the heart of Zack’s tiny discography, beneath notable singles like “The Fort” and “Fear of Intimacy,” lies Little World.

After releasing a few singles in preparation, Zack released his debut album Little World in June of 2017. The album’s vibrant and intricate cover that’s composed of his own artwork reflects its own sound: playful, colorful, and unique. Little World houses twelve songs, ranging from slightly more upbeat songs like “Sand People” and “You Don’t Care” to slower, thought evoking songs, such as “Next” and “22.”

Zack’s music is like no other artist’s. His music is a patchwork quilt of muffled drum beats, foggy electronic tones, and effects that gloss over his voice, all woven together to create thoughtful melodies. Sometimes, his voice is pitched higher or looped on top of itself. Other times, he includes miscellaneous voice recordings, like the one on “Exposition,” where he’s caught up with a friend in a discussion about a mysterious creature found on the side of the road.

Although every song he’s released is incredibly different from the last, each song melds with the next to create the messy, homemade masterpiece that is his debut album Little World.

And now, around a year after its release, two of its most notable songs, “Bloo” and “Cool” have just skimmed past a few million hits on Spotify, earning him both a slot opening up for Rex Orange County and a sizeable fanbase. Zack’s fans are invested, with some of them drawing him fanart and uploading covers of his songs to YouTube.

But Zack gives back as much as they take, working hard to release new music frequently. Most recently, on July 10th, he released two singles, “190” and “Slow Down,” the first of which was accompanied by a music video. He also spends time interacting with his followers on social media, sometimes even going as far as to pop into group chats composed of his fans to talk about obscure movies and music with them.

In his music video for “Cool,” which is far and away his biggest hit, claiming fame after it went viral on Twitter, curly-haired Zack dances in front of a mirror, meditating on the fact that he’s “always wanted to be cool” while contemplating his self esteem and debating what’s cool and what’s not. After listening to Little World on repeat for days, I can confirm that, whatever being “cool” means, Zack has undeniably accomplished it.